Read Ebook: The Roman Wall A historical topographical and descriptive account of the barrier of the lower isthmus extending from the Tyne to the Solway deduced from numerous personal surveys by Bruce J Collingwood John Collingwood

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The site of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the PONS AELII of the Romans, is here shewn. The ground on which it stands, rising abruptly from the bed of the river Tyne, to the height of about an hundred feet, is cut into three very remarkable tongues of land by four ravines, permeated by as many streams, which all disembogue in the Tyne. The easternmost and largest of these tongues of land is that formed by the Ouseburn and Pandon-dean; the smallest by Pandon-dean and the Lort-burn; and the westernmost, wheron stands the castle, and formerly the Roman station, by the Lort-burn and Skinner-burn. Extensive suburbs probably occupied all these eminences.

Footnote 1:

The Plan represents the position of each stone now remaining in the river. It is the result of a series of observations made during the summer of 1850, by Mr. Robert Elliot, of Wall. Most of the stones have luis-holes.

~The Roman Barrier of the Lower Isthmus.

IN no country of the world are there such evident traces of the march of Roman legions as in Britain. In the northern parts of England especially, the footprints of the Empire are very distinct. Northumberland, as Wallis long ago remarked, is Roman ground. Every other monument in Britain yields in importance to THE WALL. As this work, in grandeur of conception, is worthy of the Mistress of Nations, so, in durability of structure, is it the becoming offspring of the Eternal City.

A dead wall may seem to most a very unpromising subject. The stones are indeed inanimate, but he who has a head to think, and a heart to feel, will find them suggestive of bright ideas and melting sympathies; though dead themselves, they will be the cause of mental life in him. A large part of the knowledge which we possess of the early history of our country has been dug out of the ground. The spade and the plough of the rustic have often exposed documents, which have revealed the movements, as well as the modes of thought and feeling, of those who have slept in the dust for centuries. The casual wanderer by the relics of the Vallum and the Wall, may not succeed in culling facts that are new to the Historian, but he will probably get those vivid glances into Roman character, and acquire that personal interest in Roman story, which will give to the prosaic records of chroniclers, a reality, and a charm, which they did not before possess.

As a natural introduction to the subject, and as a means of preparing for some discussions which are to follow, it may be well briefly to trace the progress of the Roman arms in Britain, from the arrival of Caesar on our shores, to the eventual abandonment of the island.

It is curious to observe, that the curtain of British history is raised by some of the earliest and greatest of profane writers. Herodotus, who wrote about the year B.C. 450, mentions the "Cassiterides, from which tin is procured"; Aristotle, about the year B.C. 340, expressly names the islands of Albion and Ierne; and Polybius, about the year B.C. 160, makes a distinct reference to the "Britannic Isles." To Julius Caesar, however, we are indebted, for the first detailed account of Britain and its inhabitants. On 26 Aug. B.C. 55, that renowned conqueror landed in Britain, with a force of about ten thousand men. Both on that occasion, and on a second attempt, which, with a larger force, he made the year following, he met with a warm reception from the savage islanders. Tides and tempests seconded the efforts of the natives, and great Julius bade Britain a final farewell, without erecting any fortress in it, or leaving any troops to secure his conquest. Tacitus says, that he did not conquer Britain, but only shewed it to the Romans. Horace, calling upon Augustus to achieve the conquest, denominates it 'untouched'--

Intactus aut Britannus ut descenderet Sacra catenatus via.

... A kind of conquest Caesar made here; but made not here his brag Of, came, and saw, and overcame: with shame he was carried From off our coast, twice beaten; and his shipping on our terrible seas, Like egg-shells moved upon their surges, cracked As easily 'gainst our rocks.

During the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula, Britain was unmolested by foreign invasion.

On the return of Claudius, the supreme command again devolved upon his lieutenant, Aulus Plautius, who succeeded in bringing into complete subjection, the tribes occupying the southern portion of the island. In this expedition, Vespasian, afterwards emperor, acted as second in command to Plautius. Titus, the son of Vespasian, accompanied his father. Thus was it, in Britain, that the destroyers of Jerusalem were unconsciously trained for inflicting upon God's chosen, but sinful people, the chastisements of His displeasure.

Ostorius Scapula, A.D. 50, succeeded to the command in Britain. The brave Silures, headed by Caractacus, rendered his progress slow and bloody. Ostorius at length sank under the harassing nature of his duties.

In the reign of Nero, Roman affairs in Britain received a severe check. The Iceni, led on by their enraged queen Boadicea, threw off the yoke and attacked the principal stations of the enemy. London, which was then an important commercial city, fell, upon the first assault, and Verulam shared the same fate. The British warrior-queen sullied the splendour of her exploits by her cruelty; seventy thousand Romans, or adherents of the government of Rome, fell under her hands. Suetonius, the Roman governor, collecting his forces, gave battle to the queen and routed her. A frightful carnage ensued; of the amazing number of two hundred and thirty thousand men of which the British forces are said to have consisted, not less than eighty thousand fell.

During the remainder of the reign of Nero, and the short rule of his three successors, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, no advance was made in the conquest of Britain. In the strifes of the rival emperors, it was however destined to bear its part. Eight thousand soldiers were drafted from it to fight under the banners of Vitellius. Thus early, as Dr. Giles well observes, was this island, whose position in the bosom of the ocean indicates a peaceful policy, induced to bear the brunt of continental quarrels.

One hundred and thirty-three years had now elapsed since the first descent of Caesar, and thirty-five years, since Claudius had claimed the honour of conquering Britain, and yet but a fraction of the island was in subjection to Roman power. Nothing, as Dr. Giles well remarks, can more strongly shew the stubborn spirit of the natives, than their protracted resistance to the invaders. Battle after battle had been lost; but many of these tribes were still unsubdued, and several even undiscovered.

But the reputation of all preceding governors, was obscured by a greater man than they. Cnaeus Julius Agricola had served in Britain under some preceding commanders; so that when he landed as governor in the year 78 he was prepared to act with all the promptitude which a knowledge of the country and the people could give him. During the eight years of his rule, he subjugated the remaining tribes of southern Britain, carried his arms into the northern section of the island, and drove, in successive campaigns, the natives before him, until at length, in the battle of the Grampians, he paralyzed their strength for a while. He circumnavigated the whole island, and planted the Roman standard upon the Orkneys. He built walls and fortresses in all places where they were required, and softened the fierceness of the barbarians, by fostering a taste for letters and the luxuries of the Eternal City. But it is necessary to trace the movements of Agricola, with some of the detail with which they are given in the pages of Tacitus.

His second campaign, that of the year 79, was probably occupied in subduing the ancient tenants of the LOWER ISTHMUS of the island.

During the third year of his command, he pushed his conquests northwards, and carried his devastations as far as the mouth of the Tay Here, the enemy were struck with so much terror, that they durst not attack the Roman army, though it was greatly distressed by the severities of the climate. Agricola, in order to secure possession of these advanced conquests, again erected forts in the most commodious situations; and so judiciously was this done, that none of them were ever taken by force, abandoned through fear, or given up on terms of capitulation. Each fort defended itself, and, against any long siege, was constantly supplied with provisions for a year. Thus the several garrisons not only passed the winter in perfect security, but were likewise enabled, from these strongholds, to make frequent excursions against the enemy, who could not, as heretofore, repair the losses they had sustained in summer, by the successes usually attending their winter expeditions.

The forts here referred to, are probably those, which were drawn along the UPPER ISTHMUS of the island, extending from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde, and which were afterwards connected by the wall of Antoninus Pius.

This is rendered apparent from what follows:--

Agricola employed the fourth summer in settling and further securing the country he had subdued. Here, had it been compatible with the bravery of the army, or if the glory of the Roman name would have permitted it, there had been found a boundary to their conquests in Britain; for the tide, entering from opposite seas, and flowing far into the country by the rivers Glotta and Bodotria, their heads are only separated by a narrow neck of land, which was occupied by garrisons. Of all on this side, the Romans were already masters, the enemy being driven, as it were, into another island.

It is not necessary to pursue the operations of Agricola further. In the seventh summer he defeated Galgacus on the flanks of the Grampians. The Roman power was now at its height. Agricola, probably from motives of jealousy, was recalled by the emperor Domitian, and as his successors were not men of the same vigour as himself, the barbarians were in a condition, at least to dispute the pretensions of their conquerors.

In the year 120--thirty-five years after the recall of Agricola--affairs in Britain had fallen into such confusion, as to require the presence of the emperor HADRIAN, who had assumed the imperial purple three years before. He did not attempt to regain the conquests which Agricola had made in Scotland, but prudently sought to make the line of forts, which that general had constructed in his second campaign, the limit of his empire. With this object in view, he drew a wall across the island--the BARRIER of the LOWER ISTHMUS. The testimony of Spartian, the historian of his reign, though brief, is decisive. Hadrian, says he, visited Britain, when he corrected many things, and first drew a wall eighty miles in length, to divide the barbarians from the Romans.

The arrival in Britain, of Hadrian, one of Rome's greatest generals, was thought an event of sufficient importance to be commemorated in the currency of the empire. The large brass coin, here represented, was struck by decree of the Senate in the year 121.

The plans and the prowess of the emperor were thought to have effectually secured those portions of the island, which it was prudent to retain in the grasp of Rome. This circumstance was announced to the world in another coin, bearing, on the reverse, a name destined to sound through regions Hadrian never knew--BRITANNIA--and representing a female figure seated on a rock, having a spear in her left hand, and a shield by her side.

About twenty years after Hadrian's expedition, Lollius Urbicus took the command in Britain. He was not satisfied with the limits which Hadrian had prudently assigned to the empire in Britain. Forcing back the Britons, he raised an earthen rampart across the isthmus between the Forth and the Clyde. Graham's Dike, in Scotland, is the wall which was built by Lollius Urbicus. This is proved by the numerous sculptures which have, at different times, been discovered among its ruins.

Marcus Antoninus, who succeeded Antoninus Pius, was far from enjoying the tranquillity which the northern rampart was expected to give. He was obliged to carry on very troublesome wars with the Britons, and with much difficulty kept them in check.

In the reign of Commodus, who became sole emperor A.D. 180, the Britons, as we are told by Xiphiline, who abridged the history of Dion, broke through the wall which separated them from the Roman province, killed the general, ruined the army, and, in their ravages, carried everything before them. The wall referred to, was probably that of the Lower Isthmus; for, as Horsley conjectures, "the Caledonians had broken through the wall of Antoninus Pius not long after it was erected," and certain it is, "that we meet with no inscriptions on the wall of Antoninus but what belong to his reign."

During the time that Septimius Severus, Pescennius Niger, and Clodius Albinus contended with each other for the empire, the northern Britons were held feebly in check. At length, A.D. 197, Severus prevailed, and became sole master of the world. Virius Lupus became his propraetor in Britain. Unable to resist the attacks of the Caledonians in the field, and having in vain attempted to purchase their submission with money, his lieutenant sent hasty letters to the emperor, entreating succour, and, if possible, his presence.

It is stated by Richard of Cirencester, that about this time the PICTS, a tribe to which reference will presently be made, first landed in Scotland. The extraordinary successes, as Dr. Giles remarks, which the Caledonians gained, prior to the arrival of Severus, confirm the supposition that they received considerable reinforcements from abroad.

SEVERUS came at the call of his lieutenant. Both Herodian and Xiphiline give us an account of the proceedings of this renowned emperor in Britain, and as their narratives are not only interesting in themselves, but important in the investigation of some subsequent questions, it will be well to avail ourselves of their statements. Herodian says--

Whilst Severus was under a mighty concern about the conduct of his two sons, he received letters from the governor of Britain, informing him of the insurrections and inroads of the barbarians, and the havoc they made far and near, and begging, either a greater force, or that the emperor would come over himself. Severus, for several reasons, was pleased with the news, and, notwithstanding his age and infirmity, resolved to go over in person. And though, by reason of the gout upon him, he was forced to be carried in a litter, yet, he entered upon the journey with a juvenile briskness and courage, and performed it with great expedition. He quickly crossed the sea, and as soon as he came upon the island, having gathered a very great force together, he made ready for war. The Britons, being alarmed and terrified, would fain have excused themselves, and treated about peace. But Severus, unwilling to lose his labour, or to miss the glory of being called BRITANNICUS, dismissed their ambassadors, and carried on his military preparations. Particularly, he took care to make bridges or causeys through the marshes, that the soldiers might travel and fight upon dry ground.

Herodian next gives a short description of the inhabitants, and says that--

Many parts of Britain were become fenny, by the frequent inundations of the sea. The natives swim through those fens, or run through them up to the waist in mud; for, the greatest part of their bodies being naked, they regard not the dirt. They wear iron about their necks and bellies, esteeming this as fine and rich an ornament as others do gold. They make upon their bodies the figures of divers animals, and use no clothing, that they may be exposed to view. They are a very bloody and warlike people, using a little shield or target, and a spear. Their sword hangs on their naked bodies. They know not the use of a breastplate and helmet, and imagine these would be an impediment to them in passing the fens. The air is always thick with the vapours that ascend from these marshes.

The historian proceeds with his story--

It will be observed, that in this detailed account of the proceedings of Severus in Britain, not the least allusion is made to the construction of a wall.

Dion Cassius was contemporary with Severus. That portion of his work which narrates the transactions of this emperor in Britain, is unfortunately lost, but an epitome of it, prepared by Xiphiline, remains. From this abridgment the following extracts are taken.

Severus, observing that his two sons were abandoned to their pleasures, and that the soldiers neglected their exercises, undertook an expedition against Britain, though he was persuaded, from his horoscope, that he never should return from thence to Italy. Nor did he ever return from this expedition, but died three years after he first set out from Rome. He got a prodigious mass of riches in Britain. The two most considerable bodies of the people in that island, and to which almost all the rest relate, are the Caledonians and the Maeatae. The latter dwell near the barrier wall which separates the island into two parts; the others live beyond them. Both of them inhabit barren uncultivated mountains, or desert marshy plains, where they have neither walls nor towns, nor manured lands, but feed upon the milk of their flocks, upon what they get by hunting, and some wild fruits.

The mode in which he speaks of the Wall, in this passage, implies its existence at the time of the arrival of Severus. The historian, after giving an interesting account of the manners of the inhabitants, proceeds:--

We are masters of little less than half the island. Severus, having undertaken to reduce the whole under his subjection, entered into Caledonia, where he had endless fatigues to sustain, forests to cut down, mountains to level, morasses to dry up, and bridges to build. He had no battle to fight, and saw no enemies in a body; instead of appearing, they exposed their flocks of sheep and oxen, with design to surprise our soldiers that should straggle from the army for the sake of plunder. The waters, too, extremely incommoded our troops, insomuch that some of our soldiers being able to march no farther, begged of their companions to kill them, that they might not fall alive into their enemies' hands. In a word, Severus lost fifty thousand men there, and yet quitted not his enterprise. He went to the extremity of the island, where he observed very exactly the course of the sun in those parts, and the length of the days and nights both in summer and winter. He was carried all over the island in a close chair, by reason of his infirmities, and made a treaty with the inhabitants, by which he obliged them to relinquish part of their country to him.

The peace thus purchased, by the cession of the northern portion of the island, was badly observed. The inhabitants having taken up arms, contrary to the faith of treaties, Severus commanded his soldiers to enter their country, and to put all they met to the sword. He is said to have signified his savage intention, by quoting, from Homer, the lines which Cowper thus translates:

.... Die the race! May none escape us! neither he who flies, Nor even the infant in the mother's womb Unconscious.

But in the midst of his enterprise he was taken off by a distemper, to which, it was said, Antoninus, by his undutiful conduct, had very much contributed. He died at York, Feb. 4th, A.D. 211.

The coins of Severus record his victories. One of them is represented beneath. On the obverse is the laureated head of the ferocious African--on the reverse are two winged victories, attaching a buckler to a palm tree, at the foot of which two captives mournfully sit. The legend, VICTORIAE BRITTANNICAE, declares who these captives are. Times are changed! wide as ocean rolls, the burden of Britannia's song exultingly declares, 'Britons never will be slaves,'--and, better still, Britain has long been actively engaged in rescuing from chains the sable sons of that continent in which Severus first drew breath.

Another curious record of the wars of Severus is found in the poems of Ossian. The CARACUL, son of the 'King of the World,' in the dramatic piece 'Comala,' is supposed to be Caracalla.

DERSAGRENA. These are the signs of Fingal's death. The King of shields is fallen! and CARACUL prevails.

COMALA. Ruin overtake thee, THOU KING OF THE WORLD! Few be thy steps to the grave; and let one virgin mourn thee!

MELICOMA. What sound is that on Ardven? Who comes like the strength of rivers, when their crowded waters glitter to the moon?

COMALA. Who is it but the foe of Comala, THE SON OF THE KING OF THE WORLD! Ghost of Fingal! do thou from thy cloud, direct Comala's bow....

FINGAL. Raise ye bards, the song! CARACUL has fled from our arms along the fields of his pride.

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